Barilla Pasta with Chorizo and Chickpeas

If you're looking for a weeknight pasta dish that's not run-of-the-mill, check out my most recent recipe on the ShopRite Potluck Blog for Barilla Pasta with Chorizo and Chickpeas. You can use whatever shape pasta you have on hand and if you don't have or don't enjoy chorizo, Italian sausage (turkey or pork) is a great alternative. The leftovers are good for lunch the following day and the chickpeas are an affordable healthy way to add bulk and flavor to this dish.

Check out the recipe here.

New York City Wine and Food Festival 2013

Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the New York City Wine and Food Festival, compliments of ShopRite. I've attended the past four festivals with support from ShopRite and I've contributed to ShopRite Potluck blog since 2010.

The NYCWFF is a charity event and 100% of the net proceeds go to feeding hungry children and families in NYC and throughout the nation, via Share Our Strength. If you ever have the opportunity to attend it's great to know that the proceeds from your ticket prices are going to a great cause.

This year I was accompanied by my mom and I'm so excited that she finally got to experience this event. For the past three years my husband was my +1, but this year he had a professional obligation, so mom stepped in. My mom deserved every bit of fun and excitement this past weekend. While my  husband and I are out working hard all day she's at our house working hard with Max. And believe me, that 15 month-old is a lot of work!

We stayed at the Hudson Hotel. It was very boutique-ish with dark wood, dim lighting, ivy climbing the walls, neon lights. It's an interesting fusion between traditional and modern.

The check-in desk

The bar is amazing. I had one drink there Saturday night. The drink menu reads like a cookbook and my rumtopf cocktail was definitely a one and done. I'd love to try to re-create it at home.

Of course most of my time was spent out enjoying the festival and my weekend got off to a fabulous start with a cake decorating class with Martha Stewart. Yes, true story. I was there and I can't believe it happened!

There were about 45 people in the class and it was held at the International Culinary Center. I'm still in awe of the facility, the perfect organization and structure of the class, Martha Stewart, the buttercream frosting, and Martha Stewart. Did I mention Martha Stewart?

We were greeted at the door with glasses of prosecco. Martha was very warm and friendly and came around to every single member of the class to give pointers and feedback. I already had respect for her, but after this class I had even more.

The class included an unexpected book signing and we all received copies of her latest book, Cakes. We also got to keep the cake decorating tools at our work station and each person left with her own decorated cake. The cake was exceptional and that buttercream was the best I've ever eaten. Here's hoping the recipe is in the book!

Our next stop after Martha's class was the Grand Tasting, which is the main event for the NYCWFF. There are hundreds of food and beverage vendors and an overwhelming amount of free samples and SWAG.

I spent a few hours at ShopRite's booth promoting the Potluck blog and we were busier than we've ever been! If you're a new reader that I met this weekend, welcome and thank you!

My favorite food idea from the Grand tasting was the apple cider cocktail you see above in the bottom right corner. It was made from orange-infused apple cider mixed with vodka. The rim was coated in cinnamon sugar. I'm looking forward to trying that one at home.

We ended Saturday with a private dinner at De Gustibus Cooking School by cookbook author Judith Choate.  She was amazing, approachable, funny and so experienced. I was so impressed by her style and her skills that I'm ordering her latest book, An American Family Cooks. The entire menu featured ShopRite products, many of which we've used previously in our posts for the Potluck blog. It was great to see those ingredients shine in these gourmet dishes and I am excited to try the recipes at home.

If all of this wasn't enough, I spent Sunday morning in Pasta Making 101 at Macelleria. We were able to taste a few of the chef's creations and I'll just say that I have a new appreciation for homemade pasta!

You can read about my past experiences at the NYC Wine and Food Festival here and here. (Please forgive the lack of information about the 2012 festival. I was there, but I was deep in the new parent/newborn baby haze at that time.)

ShopRite generously provided me with event tickets and hotel accommodations, but all opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Tailgating... at home!

I'm on a quest to enjoy autumn this year. I normally associate fall with cool weather, short days, and back to school chaos, but now that we have a toddler I am also trying to embrace the family time, cozy nights and fall colors.

A few weeks ago my mom, brother and cousin went to an Eagles home game and raved about their tailgating experience. I'm not sure if I'll get to an NFL game this year, so I decided to do my best to re-create the party atmosphere at home this past Sunday.

Earlier this year, we invested in a Traeger grill. I had never heard of them, but I'm so glad that we bought one. They aren't cheap, but our Traeger (we have the 'Lil Tex Elite) has replaced our big, dirty charcoal smoker and we often use it instead of a regular charcoal grill. Yes, the Traeger is expensive, but we paid way less than retail at our local Costco. And remember, we love to grill, so we feel that it was a worthwhile investment for our family. We used our Traeger earlier this month to smoke a turkey breast and a pork shoulder.

The key to smoking is to cook your meat low and slow. This requires a controlled temperature and a lot of patience. It's also best if you burn wood to flavor your meat. Using our Traeger is like Wood Smoking for Dummies because you just load the smoker, set the digital thermostat and let it run. I baste the meat occasionally, but it's so low-maintenance that I feel comfortable running to the store or watching a movie while our dinner cooks.

We put our turkey and pork shoulder on the Traeger right after breakfast and they were ready to eat by early to mid-afternoon. We enjoyed the meat later as pulled pork sandwiches with and turkey, bacon and cheddar paninis. The leftovers were amazing.

While we're on the topic of tailgating, here are a few of my favorite party recipes for football season:

Super Bowl Meatballs - You can make these in advance and freeze them.
Roasted Tomato Salsa - This one uses Roma (plum) tomatoes, which are available at a decent price year-round.
Spicy Salsa Wings - Pick your favorite salsa (jarred works great here!) and adjust the heat to your liking.

In all honesty, I'm not a big football fan, but I love the opportunity to cook and eat game day food, so tailgating at home is a winning idea for me. Do you have any favorite football food recipes? Link them up in the comments!

P.S. Traeger doesn't know I exist, I'm just sharing my experience with our new grill.

Happy Fall, Ya'll | Apple Picking

I love summer. However, I'm really trying to embrace the beauty and colors of fall and start some new family traditions, so last Sunday (the first day of fall!) we went apple picking!

My family and I headed to nearby Milburn Orchards in Elkton, Maryland. Apparently there are tons of kid-friendly activities, but since we were traveling with a non-walking toddler who is getting over a sinus infection, we kept it simple and did a little apple picking and farm market shopping.

 
Max got to enjoy the orchard from the comfort of daddy's chest, thanks to a sturdy baby carrier.

 

As much as I love gardening, I had not ever been apple picking. I think it was worth the experience and I'd love to make this a family tradition.

Milburn Orchards has different varieties of apples available for picking each week, starting in September. This past weekend there were a few Jonagolds and plenty of Red and Golden Delicious. We picked mostly Golden Delicious because they are versatile and can be eaten raw, cooked into applesauce or baked into desserts.

We parked our car in the orchard, took a short walk to a wagon that carted about 20 of us deep into the orchard. Each person was given a sturdy plastic bag and instructions on where to find each variety of apple. You pay for what you pick. There's a ten pound minimum per family and apples are $1.55/pound.

I was pleased to find out the the apple trees are small (apparently they are some type of dwarf tree), so you can easily reach the apples without climbing or straining. 

So, um.... apparently I we got carried away because we picked 30 pounds of apples. You do the math. Tip for future apple picking trips: one plastic bag = 10 pounds. Good thing they accept debit cards in the orchard!

Despite the fact that we picked enough apples to last an entire season, we managed to lug them back to our car before checking out the farm market. We picked up a half dozen apple cider donuts (worth the cash and the calories), some fresh apple cider, and an apple walnut caramel pie. Everything was tasty and we definitely got our apple fix.

Our surplus apples are currently stored in well-ventilated crates in our cool basement. Over the next several weeks I'm looking forward to using them in all kinds of fall recipes.

Has anyone else been apple picking? Apparently this is a "thing" that I somehow didn't know was a big deal.

Potluck for ShopRite | Beef Stew

Happy (almost) fall, ya'll!

Summer is my favorite season, so I'll admit I'm feeling a little down about saying goodbye to locally grown sweet, fresh fruit, beach days, Max's baby pool on the deck, backyard barbecues on hot nights, and endless sunny days. However, since autumn arrives this week I'm trying to look forward to all the highlights of the upcoming season. I've already enjoyed a pumpkin spice latte, I put up a little bit of fall decor over the weekend and we're planning to go apple picking for the first time this year.

I am part of a team of bloggers who contribute to a blog for my favorite regional grocery store, ShopRite. The blog is called Potluck and I review products and typically write a post every month for the site. I'm proud to say that I've been part of this project for three years. My latest post is a beef stew that's perfect for fall. Hop on over to Potluck and check out my latest post!

Meal Planning | At the office

I spend a lot of hours away from home. On most days I eat both breakfast and lunch in my office and occasionally I'll work late enough to have dinner here, too. Since I've had Max, I've noticed that my hunger is urgent and I need to eat good food at more regular intervals. On my most outrageous days I'm up around 5:00 am and I start my 10-hour workday (including commute) by 7:00 am. If I don't plan properly, I'll be famished by 9:00 am and angry at the world. When I'm hungry, I often make unhealthy choices...

I used to stop at Wawa on the way to work several days a week. (For those who aren't familiar, Wawa is an awesome Philadelphia-area convenience store with a cult following.) I enjoy their coffee and their breakfast sandwiches and it was the only place I passed during my 36 mile commute. Last year Wawa moved to the opposite side of the highway, thus making it a time suck to stop there for food, so it became clear that I needed to stop relying on a convenience store for emergency meals and start planning better. Between Wawa being inconvenient, the office vending machine malfunctioning one too many times, and my desire to eat better and save cash, I knew I had to do something else.

So I applied my meal planning techniques to my workday meals. I still end up eating out about twice a week, but that's nothing compared to the damage I used to do before Max was born. And I'm human, so some weeks I go out to lunch twice in a row, or I skip breakfast, or I do well all day and end up eaitng Chinese takeout for dinner.

Here are some tips that keep me on track with workday meals and snacks:

1. I always have breakfast at my desk. I usually don't have time to eat breakfast before I leave home, but I normally walk out of the house with a green smoothie (I need to share that recipe!) and a cup of coffee. When I get to my desk I have instant oatmeal ready (yes, I need to share that one, too!) or I have Greek yogurt in my lunch bag. That normally holds me until about 11:00 am.

2. I immediately pack dinner leftovers into lunch portions. I try to cook dinners that reheat well in the microwave (spaghetti vs. crab cakes) and I place single servings into clear, shallow containers so I can just grab them on my way out in the morning. We waste less food and there's no "what's for lunch?" discussions when the food is sitting front and center.

3. Make your own vending machine. I keep single-serve snacks at my desk. Single servings aren't always economical, but I like the portion control. Shop sales or shop in bulk. I like to keep trail mix, nuts, Sun Chips, and even a few cans of soda (for weak moments).

4. Buy an office refrigerator. Some offices have a refrigerator for employee use. If yours doesn't have one and if you have the space and it's permissible, put a refrigerator in your office. Sure, it may cost you close to $100, but think about what you'll save when you can have perishables on hand. You can keep yogurt, coffee creamer, fresh fruit and milk for cereal right at your desk.

5. Keep utensils and cups handy. I always have paper plates, paper towels, plastic utensils and a water bottle at my desk. I drink water from the water cooler throughout the day and I also use the water to make instant oatmeal. If you keep your work space well-stocked you won't end up eating  yogurt with a fork.

Since I've returned to work I've had problems grocery shopping, doing laundry and cooking at regular intervals like I used to. I use my iPhone's Reminder app to keep running grocery lists for ShopRite, Target and Costco and I also have Siri give me reminders, too. If I find myself buying an item from a convenience store or vending machine I always consider adding it to my shopping list. Why pay $1.00 for a banana when you can get four for that price? Why pay $1.20 for a ginger ale when you can purchase smaller cans in single-serve portions for much less?

Consider how much money you could save if you carried your own food to work. Even if my husband and I spend just $5 per day eating out, that's $50 per week or nearly $250 per month for the two of us. I'd rather spend that cash sitting down and enjoying a few real restaurant meals during date nights.

Do you plan out your meals? I know a lot of people are on the dinner planning bandwagon, and that's saved me a ton of frustration and money. But how about lunches? Are you prepared with healthy options for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon hunger attack? If not, why not try?

Buttermilk Corn Fritters

I guess it goes without saying that I've been really, really busy this summer. You may notice that I've been active on Pinterest and Facebook, but I haven't been as active on the blog as in the past. I've been cooking and baking, but I've also been working, taking care of Max, and we've been settling into our new home.

Despite the chaos and excitement, I'm still finding time to cook, especially on weekends. I've always loved cooking breakfast and I find that rich, heavy meals are best served in moderation (Saturdays and Sundays only). I also love that eating a great breakfast gives me fuel to do whatever we need to pack into our weekends. Normally a big breakfast means we'll only eat two meals in a day.

I grew up eating corn fritters. My mom tells me that her mom made them for her. I never met my maternal grandmother (she passed away long before I was born), but I remember my mom mixing up corn fritters for us since forever. She used a boxed pancake mix and until recently I did, too. Now, however, I've modified my favorite scratch pancake recipe to create our family favorite: buttermilk corn fritters.

When I was dating my husband I think he may have found it strange that we put corn in our pancakes and called them "fritters". There's another type of corn fitter out there, but it's more of a fried little nugget of cornmeal and whole corn kernels. This isn't that. This is a fluffy, moist buttermilk pancake that is enhanced with creamed corn. It may sound a bit odd, but it's so good! Good enough to make you  look forward to getting up at 6:30 am on a Sunday when your baby wakes you up with "dadadadada". Good enough to make your mom drive to your house to bring you bacon at 7:15 am (because you ran out) just so the family can have the perfect breakfast. Yes, they are that good.

I hope you enjoy one of my favorite breakfasts.

Buttermilk Corn Fritters
serves 4
adapted from Buttermilk Pancakes from Short Stop

2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 (14-ounce) can of creamed corn

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Whisk together eggs, milk, buttermilk, vanilla and butter.

Keep wet and dry ingredients separate until you are ready to make your pancakes. Gently combine wet and dry ingredients (do not overmix!) by hand. Gently stir in creamed corn.

Preheat griddle to medium heat. Ladle pancakes onto griddle and cook until done. This batter is thick, so it will take a few minutes longer than thinner recipes. Mine take about 3-4 minutes per side.

I preheat my oven to 200 degrees to keep the pancakes warm until I am ready to serve the entire batch. Serve hot with butter and syrup and enjoy!